Train to Busan

"Train to Busan" (2016, Yeon Sang-ho, Next Entertainment World, RedPeter Film) is a South Korean zombie apocalypse film set on a busy train from Seoul bound for Busan.

Seok-Woo (Gong Yoo) is a divorced business man who lives in Seoul with his lonely daughter, Su-an (Kim Su-an) and his mother. For Su-an's birthday all she wants is to visit her mother in Busan. A wish that workaholic Seok-Woo decides to grant. He boards a train with his daughter bound for Busan, planning to drop her off and return to work as soon as possible. However, when an infected woman also boards the busy train and becomes a zombie, quickly infecting most of the passengers, the journey becomes a desperate trial to survive and reach Busan in one piece.

Together with fellow passengers; Sang-hwa (Ma Dong-seok) and his pregnant wife, Seong-kyeong (Jung Yu-mi), a high school baseball team, two elderly sisters, an arrogant rich man called Yon-suk (Kim Eui-sung), an elderly homeless man (Choi Gwi-hwa) and the train driver, they attempt to reach safety whilst battling with a fast moving army of seemingly impenetrable zombies.

A fast paced, action packed horror with very little over-the-top gore (for a zombie film), but lots of fun stunts and zombie battles to keep you occupied. The story isn't clever, nor is it trying to be. It's a simple, zombie adventure and a lesson in not being a selfish asshat. The plot delivers some tender moments followed by thrilling zombie chase scenes and exciting action. A truly good movie for the genre and something that a lot of modern Western zombie movies are failing to deliver: scary zombies.

[Image: Next Entertainment World]

Hani

Flatliners

"Flatliners" (1990, Joel Schumacher, Columbia Pictures, Stonebridge Entertainment) is a sci-fi horror about the dangers of fooling around with the afterlife.

Medical student, Nelson (Kiefer Sutherland), has a theory he wants to prove: he wants to die and then brought back under controlled conditions to prove that there is something beyond death. He convinces fellow students; Rachel (Julia Roberts), Dave (Kevin Bacon), Joe (William Baldwin) and Randy (Oliver Platt) to help him achieve this experiment. When the experiment turns out to be successful, each of Nelson's associates are keen to have their own turn to see beyond the veil. However, Nelson has withheld some disturbing information about the aftereffects of his discovery: he did not come back from the netherworld alone...

A really excellent film that enjoys an amazing cast and a really striking style which has been mimicked by many films since. Abstract, inventive and entertaining this film enjoys a deserved cult status and it's cast went on to achieve great things in their own right. The only negative plot point would be the repetitiveness of the story. We do eventually go through the motions after the first couple of characters flatline.

A fun bit of sci-fi that has aged well.

[Image: Stonebridge Entertainment]

Hani

Shock 'em Dead

"Shock 'em Dead" aka "Rock 'em Dead" (1991, Mark Freed, Noma, Academy Entertainment) is a direct-to-VHS horror film about rock 'n' roll and voodoo.

Martin (Stephen Quadros) is a loser who can't play guitar no matter how hard he practices. He's working in a pizza shop, but aspires to join a local up-and-coming rock band. After quitting his job and having a disastrously bad audition, Martin sells his soul to the local voodoo lady in order to become a successful rock legend.

Martin transforms into Angel; a guitar god with a mansion, hot tub and sexy groupies. Unfortunately, however, losing his soul comes with a new hunger that needs to be satisfied and he needs to feed....

Can he make it in the world of rock? Can he win the heart of Lindsay (Traci Lords), the band's sexy manager? Can he get rid of that terrible lead singer? It's so exciting...

I put this film in the so-bad-it's-good category: it's hammy as hell, there's a lot of gratuitous boob flashing and the 'music' is terrible. Angel appears to develop unworldly guitar skills that just add to the ridiculous appeal of this daft bit of B-movie cinema.

So, the main lesson to be learned from this film is that soulless Martin is just as big an idiot as nerdy Martin. If you're given godly guitar powers and an almighty makeover, and essentially the world of awesome at your fingertips.... don't waste it by setting your sights so low. Numpty.

[Image: Noma, et al]

Hani

Manhattan Baby

"Manhattan Baby" aka "L'Occhio del male" (1982, Lucio Fulci, Fulvia Film) is an Italian giallo horror film from 'godfather of gore', Lucio Fulci. That makes it sound good. Don't get your hopes up too much...

The film serves as one of Fulci's weakest in my book, and certainly a far cry from his masterpiece, and a personal favourite of mine; "The House by the Cemetery".

We follow young Susie (Brigitta Boccoli) who, whilst in Egypt with her parents, Professor George Hacker (Christopher Connelly) and Emily Hacker (Laura Lenzi), is given a mysterious amulet by a strange, blind woman. Upon Susie receiving this unusual treasure, her father is struck blind whilst in an unexplored tomb and the family have to return immediately home to New York city.

While her parents fret over George's temporary blindness, Susie shows her new shiny thing to her younger brother, Tommy (Giovanni Frezza), and both siblings begin to fall under the amulet's power. This includes the ability to pop off on adventures to Egypt whenever they like, bring back poisonous creatures, ship off people who annoy them to the desert and summon the shambling undead.... Kids stuff, really.

As well as suffering from being very slow and somewhat dull, the plot jumps randomly from scene to scene making everything hard to follow and becoming a chore to watch. The characters also don't behave quite human enough: no one seems to notice all the missing people for starters!

One thing I did enjoy was watching George walk around with his glasses on over his massive eye bandages. Truly weird.

The film just lacks atmosphere and coherence and not even a zombie bird attack scene can save it from that!

I do love the DVD cover art, though

[Image: Fulvia Film]

 

Hani

Julia's Eyes

"Julia's Eyes" aka "Los ojos de Julia" (2010, Guillem Morales, Rodar y Rodar Cine y Televisión, Double Dare You, Universal Pictures) is a Spanish thriller about blindness. 

Julia (Belén Rueda) is a twin, whose sister, Sara, has committed suicide shortly after becoming blind. Sara's blindness was caused by a hereditary condition from which Julia is also suffering, and she and her husband, Isaac (Lluís Homar), are already preparing for her own inevitable fate. 

Julia becomes convinced that Sara's death was not a straightforward suicide, and she begins to investigate herself, as her own sight begins to slowly diminish. Alas, time is running out and she is assigned a care worker, Iván (Pablo Delqui). Can she avoid the fate of her sister?

A fun thriller with some good effects and some chilling scenes dotted throughout what is otherwise a slow-burning mystery, more than a horror. Julia’s slow, but steady march towards blindness is effectively portrayed through lighting and skilfully keeping other characters just out of sight.

An effective thriller that packs possibly too many twists, but delivers with a fun, but straight-faced style that makes our heroine’s sense of loss and hopelessness palpable. 

Hani 

The Autopsy of Jane Doe

"The Autopsy of Jane Doe" (2016, André Øvredal, 42, IM Global, Impostor Pictures, IFC Midnight) is an intriguing horror about a father and son coroner team, who are tasked with identifying the cause of death of an unknown woman.

Tommy Tilden (Brian Cox) and his son, Austin (Emile Hirsch) are a small-town coroner and medical assistant. They are clocking off, Austin planning on going to the cinema with his girlfriend, Emma (Ophelia Lovibond), when the local sheriff (Michael McElhatten) comes bursting in with an urgent case: a mysterious Jane Doe (Olwen Kelly) found at the scene of an unusual homicide. Abandoning their plans for the evening, Tommy and Austin knuckle down to determine the cause of death.

As they begin to investigate the corpse they become more and more convinced that things are not as they seem....

A creepy, engaging and inventive film which has the right balance of slow eerie build up and action to keep things moving. The viewer discovers the secrets of Jane along with the characters, keeping a good plot flow. The setting and effects are very effective and the film achieves a gruesomeness without actually being too gory.

The film is very dark, both in subject matter and in lighting style, and really filled the 99 minute run time without becoming dull. It's not without its cheesiness, but this adds to the experience.

All in all, a very entertaining film.

[Image: IM Global et al]

Hani 

Krampus

"Krampus" (2015, Michael Dougherty, Legendary Pictures, Zam Pictures) is a Christmas horror about St. Nicholas' demonic counterpart, Krampus.

Tom (Adam Scott), Sarah (Toni Collette) and their kids, Beth (Stefania LaVie Owen) and Max (Emjay Anthony) are preparing for Christmas at home with Tom's mother (Krista Stadler). Sarah's sister, Linda (Allison Tolman) also visits with her brash husband, Howard (David Koechner), their new baby and other, older, rude children, Stevie (Lolo Owen), Jordan (Queenie Samuel) and Howie Jr. (Maveick Flack). They also bring Sarah's disapproving, demanding aunt (Conchata Ferrell). As the night progresses, Max begins to feel that the Christmasses of his childhood are over and, in his anger, he unwittingly unleashes Krampus on his family...

The film starts out very much like any other non-horror Christmas movie. Then, the horror aspects are introduced with cheesy relish. The cast are good, the action is silly, but fun and the film delivers a good holiday horror that doesn't try to take itself very seriously. The result is a film which isn't especially scary, but manages to deliver a fun holiday romp which feels a little like "National Lampoons' Christmas Vacation" meets "The Demonic Toys", but with better production value.

Definitely one I'll be watching again.

[Image: Legendary Pictures]

Hani